The Pensieve
by Fredslover
Summary: Harry is given his parents pensieve, something that could very well answer all of his questions about them.
1. Chapter 1

" Harry! Harry, wake up! " A familiar voice whispers harshly into Harry's ear, just as he is about to fall into a fitful sleep. He open's up one eye to see that it's Hermione who was talking. She was leaning over her desk and proding him in the shoulder roughly. Opening his other eye he suddenly remembers where he is. Potion class.

His head snapped up off of his desk hurridly, giving Hermione a greatful look as she stares at him looking slgihtly worried. He see's Snape up at the front of the class, potion bottle in hand as he yells at Neville for doing something wrong with his ingredients. Wiping his eye's with the back of his hand, Harry stiffles a yawn. He knows that his potion is probably ruined, not that it made a big difference, it was probably not right to begin with. Falling asleep in class seemed to be habit now, this was the third time today that he had taken a nap during a lesson. He was lucky that Snape had't seen him, or Gryffindor would have had to pay for his drowsiness.

The reason for his fatugue wasn't a mystery to Harry, he knew why, and so did everyone that had to share a dormitory with him. He had been having nightmares for the past few weeks, nightmares that he had been doing his best to ignore. His new method for getting rid of them was to just not sleep at all, or at least not very much. And all though this was an effective way to stop the nightmares, it wasn't a very wise dicision, because now his grades were going down hill from their already midocre stand point. Plus, not having the nightmares only made him think about it twenty-four seven, it was literally driving him crazy.

The dream consisted of the two subjects that were the most sensitive to him: His parents, and his godfather. That was why he was suspicious of the meaning of the dream, having been tricked by his nightmares before, he wondered if this particular nightmare had a hidden agenda as well. In the dream, he saw his Parents and Sirius talking to eachother. They didn't seem to see Harry as he tried to get their attention, after a few minutes of their conversation they start to fall, slowly at first, but then fast as Harry watches them pumeling into a pool of silvery mist. That's usually when Harry would wake up, he never got to see anything after that. Ron knew about these nightmare's becuase his bed was right next to Harry's, and since Ron knew, that meant Hermione knew as well. Ron and Hermione had been a couple since the begining of that year, and anything Ron knew, he told Hermione. Not that this really bothered Harry much, considering that he would have told Hermione about the dream anyway.

Speaking of Hermione, Harry glanced at her. She was still looking at him, concern written all over her face.

" Are you okay? " She whispered quietly, after eyeing Snape to make sure he wasn't looking. Harry nodded slighty, trying to smile to show her that he really was alright, but he could't quite pull it off.

" I'm just tired. " He said, making her nod sympathetically.

" I think you should try to get some sleep tonight... " She said, looking away when she noticed that Snape was done talking to Neville. Nodding practically to himself Harry turned back to his useless potion vile. His neglected potion ingrediants lay scattered around his desk, and he made an attempt to add a few of them into his potion in the right order. Ron, who was sitting next to him, was trying to correct his own potion, that was now bubbling profusely.

The rest of the class went by unnaturally slow, since it was double potions. It was the end of the lesson and Harry was more than ready to leave, skip dinner and walk straight to his dormitory to go to sleep. But of course, anything he wanted to do was prevented by Snape, who told everybody that they had to stay in class until every potion had been turned in. Harry was standing in line behind Ron who was next. Hermione had already turned hers in and was now waiting for Harry and Ron at the door. As usual, her's had been perfect, but that still hadn't stopped Snape from complaining about stupid things such as the "thickness being unprofessional" or something like that, whatever it was, it caused Hermione to get an A on the assignment, which didn't give Harry any chance at all at even passing.

" What kind of Professor do you take me for Weasley? " Snape was saying to a confused looking Ron. He was holding the potion at arm's length as if it disgusted him. He shook his head, taking out his quill and marking on a filled piece of parchment. Ron's ear's went red as Snape drew a large D right beside Ron's name, looking up the list Harry saw that almost all of Ron's marks were D's, which was almost as bad as the way's Harry looked. Snape shooed Ron away, and Ron more than willingly shuffled over to a eagerly awaiting Hermione. They kissed quickly, before both of them turned to watch Harry.

Harry reluctantly stepped forward with his pityful little vile, he knew he was about to recieve an awful grade, so as Snape snatched the vile away from him rudely, he prepared himself for the worse. Snape seemed to take forever to study Harry's unfinished potion, finally after an agonizing minute, that Harry was sure lasted a life time, Snape finally looked over at him.

" You would think, " He started, taking his wand out of his cloak pocket and pointing it at the potion. " that after six years in my class, you would at least be able to make a simple paralysis draught, without ruining it completely... " He growled, muttering something under his breath, causing Harry's potion to disapear. Harry let out a sigh, as Snape smiled slightly as he marked on his parchment. Harry didn't even bother to look at the writing as he turned around and walked over to the other two.

Their was a frown forming on Hermione's lips as Harry opened the large metal door of the dungeon. The three of them walked the whole corridor without saying a word, Harry's eye lids were getting extremely heavy as they walked straight across the entrance to the Great Hall and toward the first of many staircases that lead up to the Gryffindor common room.

" Are you sure your alright Harry? " Hermione asked breaking the silence that was practically putting him to sleep standing up. Harry glanced over at her, coming out of a sort of sleepy trance.

" Yeah...I just really need to sleep, I don't even care if I have a nightmare or not... " Harry muttered taking one exhausting step upwards. Hermione nodded thoughtfully.

" You look awful, I still think you should go to Dumbledore, or at least write to Lupin about it. " She said, he saw her link hand's with Ron. That was the third time today that she had requested that he tell Lupin about the dream's. But Harry didn't really see a need to tell anyone about them, it wouldn't do anything but cause people to get worried, and Harry had had enough drama to last him a lifetime and he didn't have any interest in having anymore.

" I'm not gonig to tell Lupin, he doesn't need to know. "

" Okay, I'm just worried about you is all... " She said, sounding hurt. Harry sighed heavily, he needed to sleep, if he didn't he was going to scare everyone away from him, including Ron and Hermione.

" I know...I'm sorry, I just need to sleep. "

They were making their way onto the second floor landing when Professor McGonagall rounded the corner, nearly knocking them over. She looked winded, and a little stressed, but she always had that look of strictness about her, and Harry was to tired to try and tell the difference between the two emotions.

" Oh, thank goodness Harry I've been looking all over for you. " She said, looking relieved that she had run into them. Harry just stood there waiting for her to elaborate.

" I need you to come with me Potter, Dumbledore needs to see you. " She said, causing Harry to groan inwardly, normally he would have at least tried to hide his annoyence, but he didn't really see the point in doing so now.

" Professor, I don't mean to be rude, but I really just want to go to my dormitory. Do you think this could wait till tommorow? " Harry asked, hoping that it could. Why couldn't anybody see that he just wanted to go to sleep? McGonagall shook her head slowly, giving him a thoughtful look.

" I'm afraid not dear, it's a family matter... " She said giving him an odd look. Harry's drowsiness disapated completely at her last words. He was now totally alert, staring at McGonagall with all his attention.

" A...a what? " He asked. She shook her head again and motioned him foward.

" Mr. Weasley...Miss Granger, do you mind going to your common rooom to perhalps wait for Potter, I'm sure you understand that this is a personal matter. " She said looking at Ron and Hermione, who stood their silently for a moment before nodding their heads. Harry didn't really think that it was that nessisary to have Ron and Hermione leave, but didn't yet have the energy to argue.

" Yeah, sure... " Ron muttered.

" We'll be in the common room Harry. " Hermione said, she waved slightly giving McGonagall a last nervous look before the two of them walked up the next flight of stairs. Harry didn't know whether to feel good or bad about the fact that Ron and Hermione weren't coming with him, and since Professor McGonagall apparently wasn't in the mood to talk, he probablt wasn't going to know.

" Come with me... " She said turning in the opposite direction, and stepping on a different staircase than the one Ron and Hermione had taken. Harry knew the way to Dumbledore's office by heart, this gave him ample time to think of what Professor McGonagall meant by I family matter /I , considering the fact that Harry didn't have any family left, unless you counted the Dursley's, which were the worlds most saddess excuse for a family ever seen. Crossing out that possibility he started thinking about what else it could be. But the more he thought about it the more he came to the conclusion that...he had no idea what it could be. They walked down the familiar halls, only stopping once so that McGonagall could yell at Peeves, who had managed to knock over all of the portraits on that corridor. Once Peeves was contained, they walked the remaining way to the giant Gargoyle that he knew lead up to Dumbledore's office.

" Lemon sours. " McGonagall muttered, she was facing the Gargoyle along with Harry as they waited for it to move. Seconds later the stone creature jumped aside, revealing a long revolving staircase, that reminded Harry of the escalators that Muggles used in their malls, and office buildings. Harry stepped onto the stairs behind McGonagall and waited while the moving steps carried the two of them upwards. After reaching the top, the stairs stopped and a large wooden door sat in front of them. Professor McGongall knocked three times, then pushed the door open slowly.

Harry followed her inside, the surroudings of Dumbledore's office coming into view. The many portraits scattered on the walls, all of which were staring either at him with looks of reconition, or at Dumbledore with looks of confusion. There were hundreds of little trinket's lining the shelves that were mounted on the wallsor standing in the corner's. Dumbledore himself was sitting at his desk, writing on a piece of parchment, quill moving back and forth quickly. He looked up as they made their way over to him.

" Ah...Harry, thank you for coming. " He said, placing his quill back into it's holder, and flipping the parchment onto it's front side. He looked up and motioned to the chair that was facing his desk. Harry took it gratefully, sinking into it's soft cushion. Dumbledore stared at him for a few seconds before speaking.

" How are you feeling? " He asked, seeming to catch the fact that something was wrong. But Harry had already dicided against telling anyone else about what was bothering, so he'd have to lie about it, knowing that Dumbledore could probably tell that he wasn't being truthful.

" I'm fine, just tired. Er..Professor McGonagall said that you needed to see me... " Harry said, hoping to get this over with quickly, or at least get to whatever it was. Dumbledore nodded slowly, then quite suddenly he got up from his chair.

" Yes...I have something that belongs to you... " He said walking over to the cabnet closest to his desk. Harry knew this cabnet, it was the same one that had held Dumbledore's pensieve almost two years ago, but why was he going into it now? He pulled open the cabnet door and poked his head inside. From his position Harry couldn't see into the cabnet, so he waited quietly as Dumbledore looked for whatever it was that he wanted Harry to have.

Finally Dumbledore's head emerged from the cabnet, and he now held something in his hands. It was a pensieve, that much Harry knew. It wasn't Dumbledore's though. It was a large stone basin, very simular to Dumbledore's, but this one had different disigns on the sides. Dumbledore shuffled back over to his desk and placed the pensieve down in front of Harry. The silvery substance was swirling around in circles in a very tempting way, for some reason Harry felt drawn to it, even before Dumbledore told him what it was.

" A pensieve... " Harry muttered, stating the obvious. Dumbledore nodded, glancing at the liquid inside the basin, then meeting Harry's gaze.

" Yes...your father's to be exact. " He said, there was a hint of a smile on his face.

" My...father's? " Harry asked, now staring at the silver liquid so hard he was scared his eye's were going to go cross, but he couldn't help it.

" And your mother's. " He added softly, Harry couldn't believe it. This pensieve held memories of his parents. He could learn so much from this, so many thing's lay in this basin that could answer many if not all his question's about his past. Reluctantly Harry tore his eye's from the pensieve, Dumbledore was sitting down again, seemingly waiting for Harry to ask him something.

" Why are you just now giving this to me? " Harry asked, wishing that he had had this last year, when he had been questioning his father's morality.

" Well, it belonged to Sirius then, but it's yours now. " He said, now smiling visibly, Harry didn't know if he was capible of smiling or not. He was suprised that his father even kept a pensieve, and was even more suprised that Sirius had never shown him, let alone tell him about it. But all those things didn't matter anymore, the only thing that mattered was that he held his parents thought's and memories in his hands, and they were free for Harry to look at whenever he cared too.

" Thank you. " Was all Harry was able to say. Dumbledore shook his head.

" Don't thank me, I've done nothing. You may leave now if you'd like, just please don't let many people know about this, and I'll ask you that if you do decide to go into a memory, take someone with you, may I suggest two...people... " He said sugestively. Harry nodded, then eased himself out of the chair. Carefully he cupped the large bowl into his hands and gripped it tightly. He turned around and made his way out of the office, and it was then that he noticed that Professor McGonagall must had left at some point.

Walking up six flights of stairs turned out to be quite a hastle when you were carrying a rather heavy bowl of thought's. Not to mention the fact that he almost stopped twice to stick his head in the basin to see just one memory, but he stopped himself each time, telling himself that in a few minutes he'd be in the common room with Ron and Hermione and then they would come with him into it, just as Dumbledore had sugested. He was close to totally ignoring his morals and looking into it anyway, but then decided that no memory as worth the chence of getting his father's pensieve taken away.

Luckily for him he reached the Fat Lady without any incident's. Muttering the password, he stepped inside making sure not to bump the pensieve on the side of the portrait hole. Just as Hermione had promised, she and Ron were sitting on the couch in front of the fire. He walked over slowly, then cleared his throat loudly, causing the two of them to turn around. Harry didn't know what to say, but it was clear that Hermione had seen a pensieve before, not that he was suprised.

" Harry where did you... " She muttered as Harry came closer to them.

" It was my parents... " He said placing it on the coffee table in front of the couch. Ron, who had never seen one of these before was looking at the contents in the pensieve with a look of confusion on his face.

" What is- "

" It's a pensieve Ron. " Hermione said sounding like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ron was still looking confused.

" It was your parents? Then why didn't you get it sooner, I mean you could learn so much, you could even- " Hermione started, but Harry cut her off.

" It belonged to Sirius, and now that...well now it belongs to me... " Harry said, making Hermione sigh quietly and settle back down.

" You know, you can go inside the memories... " Harry said, throwing the fact out into the open, he had been so excited about going into it, he hadn't even thought about one of the two or both of them even, not wanteing to go into his parents memories.

" Yes, are you going to? " Hermione asked, Ron now looked a bit frightened. Harry took a deep breath before answering.

" Of course I am...I mean how could I not? " He asked, Hermione nodded knowingly.

" Yeah sure. " She muttered.

" Dumbledore told me that if I did...I should take someone else with me. " Harry said looking at Hermione hopefully. At first she seemed to not understand what he was tryint o imply, but then her face filled with a look of understanding.

" Oh, Harry. Of course I will, Ron will too. " She said smiling slgihtly. Ron's head turned to Hermione.

" Ron will what? " He asked curiously, looking a little bit agrivated. Harry looked over at him.

" I'm asking you to go with me and Hermione into my parents memories. " Harry said bluntly. Ron eye's went wide for a moment.

" Oh... " He breathed glancing once at Hermione. She nodded.

" Listen if you don't wont to... " Harry said letting the sentence hang.

" No! No...I will...er, when? " He said reassuringly. Harry sighed again, looking at the both of them.

" Now's as good a time as any. " Harry said motioning to the pensieve. The other two nodded and Harry felt grateful to have the two of them. It was very likely that throughout those memories he would see somethings that he probably would rather not see, but he had too. And if he had too, then he was glad they'd be with him...


	2. Chapter 2

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing around the pensieve, in the middle of the Room of Requirement. It was the only place that they could think of that could provide them with enough space, and of course privacy for what they wanted to do. Harry had had experience with someone walking in on you while you were visiting a memory, and for some reason he didn't think that a hogwarts professor, or student for that matter, would be quite as understanding as Dumbledore.

Harry's eyes were locked on the silvery substance that held his parents memories, it was hard to believe that you could store someone's thoughts in a bowl, out in the open for anyone to access. But never the less, there in front of him was his parents pensieve, and he was going to take advantage of it.

" So, tell me again what it is we're going to do here... " Ron said from his position beside Hermione. He had been surprisingly quiet the trip up there, not asking questions, but now that they were about to actually do something, he seemed a little more talkative.

" We're going to go inside Harry's parent's memories, " Hermione said matter-a-factly. Ron's face went slack with confusion, and Harry watched as Hermione sighed in annoyance. The two of them may have been going out, but that unfortunately didn't change the hot and cold differences of Hermione and Ron. " From what I've read, all you have to do is touch the liquid and it pulls you in, right? " She explained, turning her head in Harry's direction.

" Yeah... " Harry said, feeling as if Hermione knew more about this than he did, even though he had done this multable times. Hermione nodded and Harry glanced at Ron, who was still looking a bit confused, but there was a hint of curiosity about him, which made Harry feel better about dragging him into this.

" I suppose we should get started, don't want to be gone to long... " Hermione mentioned to the both of them, she was looking at Harry thoughtfully, and after a moment he nodded.

" Er...okay, I'm not really sure how it works with more than two people... " Harry said, all the times he had ever entered a pensieve, he had done so alone. He didn't know how they were going to do this.

" Well maybe we should hold hands...so we don't get sepperated. " Hermione said, looking, as usual, as if she knew exactly what she was doing. Not knowing of anything else they could do to enssure that they stayed together, Harry nodded again and grabbed Hermione's outstretched hand. He hoped that she couldn't feel the nervousness that had settled in the pit of his stomach. If his hands were clammy, Hermione didn't seem to notice, she took hold of Ron's hand and moved them closer to the pensieve.

" Alright, on the count of three...touch the thoughts... " Hermione said, Harry muttered his agreement, and Ron, who was still looking a little questionable, nodded his head. " Okay, one...two...three! "

It all happened extremely fast, Harry felt himself being dragged forward by Hermione's firm grip, then, almost totally without relizing it, he dipped the end of his finger in the silver mist. Before he knew it, there was a squel that could have been Hermione, but knowing Ron, could have also been him, and the three of them were pulled into the stone basin.

Harry was surrounded by mist, the only way he knew that Hermione was floating next to him, was the fact that her hand, which had tightened it's grip significantly, was still clasped in his own. It was an odd sort of sensation, being carried around by mist, but it didn't last very long, after a few moments he felt himself land on something quite solid.

At first, he still couldn't see anything other than the silver mist around him, but gradually his surroundings started coming into view, and they were very familiar.

Hermione's hand slipped out of his own, and he only vaguely recalled her asking him where they were. To their right, there was a dense forest, that seemed to go on forever. To their there right was a lake, the sunlight was reflecting off it's glassy surface, and every once in a while a tenticle came sliding out.

Proving his suspisions, there was a caslte looming ahead of them, it's many towers looking the same as they had earlier that day, during Care of Magical Creatures. There were students walking leisurely on the grounds, and it reminded Harry of the students that he knew, it was funny how things looked so simular.

At some point, without noticing, Harry had started walking toward the castle, looking for some sort of trace of his parents. He felt Ron and Hermione walking behind him, and took a quick glance back at them, Hermione smiled and continued her search of the grounds, Ron looked utterly amazed as he grabbed Hermione's hand.

Harry was just turning around when he caught a glimpse of auburn red hair shine out of the corner of his eye. He turned his attention to the owner of the hair. An extremely pretty girl was strolling out of the castle doors, her emerald eye's practically glistening in the sunlight. IMum/I. Harry thought to himself. He was about to run up to his mother nand take her all in, but he stopped dead at the voice that came from somewhere behind him.

" She's bloody amazing... " His father said, causing chills to run up Harry's spine. He knew that voice, it was so much like his own. He heard Hermione let out a gasping sound, and Ron mutter something to himslef. Harry turned around and saw that they were facing the big oak tree that sat next to the lake. Harry spotted the source of the famliar voice, laying on his back, head resting on his arm, and staring avidly at Harry's mother.

James wasn't the only one laying next to the tree. There were three other boys there as well. A muscular boy, with long tusseled black hair was sitting a few feet from James, his back propped againt the bark of the oak tree.

" Sirius... " Harry heard himself breathe, the boy in front of him was obviously his godfather. Althought Sirius had been a lot older and deffinately more worn out when Harry had known him, there were a few dead giveaways that helped Harry identify him.

His eyes, which were a deep brown, only a few shades from being black, and were a complete contrast of the tired and sunken eyes of the Sirius that Harry had known. There was still something in them that was the same, a look of michief, a glint really, something that told you that he was always up for fun, Harry could still remember that look, Sirius used to always have a hint of it in his eyes, no matter what the situation.

" Yeah, she's also a straight 'O' student, and head of the Charms club...and a Gryffindor prefect... " Another familiar voice floated down from a low hanging branch. A dirty blond haired boy looked up from his book. His eyes were a silvery blue, and his cloaks were torn slightly. It was very clear who this was, Remus Lupin was staring at James, seeming to be amused.

" Well Moony, if you haven't noticed, I too am a Gryffindor prefect, and as for the grades, I'll have you know I managed to score an 'E' on my last Charms exam... " Harry's father said proudly. Lupin rolled his eyes dismissively and set his gaze back onto the page of his apparently, very interesting book. Sirius let out a loud huff and adjusted his position against the tree.

" Listen mate, why are you going for something you'll never get? If your really that desperate for a woman, why not just take one of my lovely ladies? " He said, picking at blades of the perfect green grass below him. Harry watched as his father seemed to be thinking about Sirius' proposition.

" Nope, I'm good, thanks though. " He said, still staring off into the distance. Sirius gave him a look of pity, then turned his eye's onto Lupin, who was still deeply emersed in his reading.

" What about you Lupin? You have any ideas on who you'd like to snag for the ball? " He asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Again Lupin lowered the book from his eyes and looked at Sirius with disaproval.

" _Snog_? How romantic... " He said sarcastically. Harry looked closer at Lupin's familiar, yet youthful face. There were faint little scars running from his temple to the bridge of his nose, they were barely noticable to Harry, but then again, he hadn't been trying to notice them, he was sure that if a girl looking for a date to some ball was looking at him...it would be one of the first thing that she noticed. Not to mention the shabyness of his robes, which reminded him of Ron's, girls usually didn't find that very attractive, no matter how great the actual person may be.

" Hey Padfoot, what about that blond girl that you took to Hogsmeade that one time? What was her name...Mary?" James asked, finally removing his stare from Lily. Sirius looked as if he was thinking about it for a moment and Harry smiled at the fact that Sirius dated so many girls that he had to think back and remember the girl that James was talking about.

" Adkins...yeah, er, pretty girl, " Sirius started, looking as if the mere memory of the date was amusing. " but there wasn't much going on upstairs...if you know what I mean... " He finished, giving Lupin an apologetic look. Lupin closed that book that he had been so distracted by earlier.

" Actually, I did have a girl in mind... " He said, looking down at the ground and then attempting to meet the other boys eyes.

" Well? " James asked, seeming to be rather surprised that Lupin was thinking about taking someone, and he didn't know about it yet. Lupin looked down again and stared at the worn in sneakers that he was wearing. He muttered something thatHarry couldn't quite make out, neither apparently could everyone else.

" Sorry Moony, you'll have to speak up, who did you say the lucky lay was? " Sirius said, cocking his head upwards to get a better look at Lupin.

" Norah Finley... " Lupin said loudly, still looking at his shoes. For a moment no one spoke, then, noticing the silience Lupin looked up at the others. Harry noted to the set expression on the three boys faces as they stared at Lupins pityful looking face. Then quite suddenly, Sirius burst out laughing, so hard that he was holing his side. James managed to compose himself by looking away momentarily. Peter was laughing also, as he sat next to Sirius, he looked completely out of place.

Harry watched as Lupin's face fell, he crossed his arms and leaned back more fulling on the bark of the tree, his position on the branch allowing him to become pretty much invisable once he scooted to the side.

" Norah...you mean...you want to be seen in puplic...with IThe Troll/I? " Sirius asked disbelievingly, at this statement peter let out a loud snort and went back to rolling on the ground laughing. Sirius was still holding his side and wiping the tears that were streaming down his face. James however was turning back around from his position.

" You boys are so horrible... " Harry heard Hermione mutter under her breath. Ron was laughing quite audibly from beside Harry, and Harry couldn't stop the few chuckles that escaped his mouth, but for Hermione's sake he was trying to keep the laughing to a minimal.

James cleared his throat loudly, staring at the ther two boys pointedly. Once Peter caught sight of James' disapointed stares, he shut up rather quickly, sitting up and looking ashamed, it was clear that if James told Peter to jump off of the Astronomy tower, Peter would gladly obey. Harry couldn't help responding to his own thoughts, thinking that he wouldn't lose any sleep at night, if James would have asked that question...

" Okay guys...Iguys/I! I think we owe it to Remus, to at least give this Norah girl a chance. Besides, I'm sure she's a very nice girl. " James said giving Lupin a reassuring look. Lupin smiled gratefully, and removed himself from the shadows of the tree limbs and sighed.

" She Iis/I really nice...and smart... " Lupin said, he was blushing and talking quietly. Hermione was cooeing from behind Harry. James nodded.

" I'm sure she is. You know what? I think you should ask Norah to te ball...we'll help. Wont we Sirius? " He said looking at Sirius, who was gradually calming down. He raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes threateningly. Sirius straightened his composure and looked at Lupin with a sincere, yet strained look of agreement.

" Er...yeah...sure... " He muttered, nodding his head rapidly. James winked once at Lupin and turned back around. His eyes were wondering the grounds and it was clear that he was looking for Lily again. Just when Harry thought that his father was going to give up his search of the grounds, with the thought that Lily had gone back inside, James' eye looked as if they were about to shoot out of his head. He let out what resembled a gasp and turned his head toward the back of the tree, away from the grounds in which he was just so keen to look at.

" Merlin...she's coming. " He breathed nervously. Harry looked to his right and saw what was making his father so jumpy. His mother, Lily Evans was making her way torward the tree that the four boys were sitting around. Harry looked back at his father, who was running his hands through his hair tirelessly, ruffeling it, so that his messy locks just became more tangled and wreckless. Sirius was laughing to himself, as he tried to calm James down.

" Just relax...she's probably not even coming to talk to you...in fact...she's most likely not coming to talk to you... " He said patting James on the back.

" Oh yeah, thanks Sirius...that makes me feel loads better... " James uttered, he was wiping his face and chin, as if trying to get invisable dirt off of it. Seconds later, the gorgeous redhead was stomping her way right next to James...and then looking up at Lupin.

" Hello Remus, I was just wondering, do you have the notes from yesterday's potion lesson? I'm such a clux, I've seemed to missplace them. " She said laughing, and exposing perfect white teeth. There was something about the way her lips curled that reminded Harry of himself, and it was nice to know that, aside from his eye color, there was other things that him and his mother shared.

James let out a strangled cough, that could have been a laugh. Then when Lily glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, he quickly put on a cool, passive expression. Lupin smiled at her calmly and hopped down from the branch he had been sitting on. He reached behind Sirius and pulled out a brown leather bag, opened it up and started rumaging through it. While everyone waited, Sirius, who would never hesitate to give James a hard time, spoke up.

" So Evans...found anyone to go to the ball with yet? " He asked, throughing James a mischievous look. James was was to busy running his hand across his neck and shaking his head threateningly to find the situation the least bit funny.

" Um...not that it's any of your business Sirius, but I do actually have a date... " She said matter-a-factly. Harry felt rather than saw his father's heart sink. James recovered quickly though and quickly turned on his witty attitude.

" Oh yeah? Who's the poor sap? " He asked, causing Lily to turn to him. There was a moment in which Harry saw James' face flush, but it quickly gained it's color back as Lily thought about whether or not to answer.

" Dennis Brown. " She said proudly. Sirius let out a loud cough that sounded alot like the word Iprat/I, then sniffed trying to cover it up. Lily scoffed, then looked at Sirius.

" Honestly, why bother asking, if all your going to do is make fun of me? " Lily said, looking slightly embarassed.

" Brown? " Ron said, looking over at Hermione, then at Harry. " As in ILavender/I Brown? " He asked. Harry shrugged, thinking that anyone related to Lavender Brown probably fit close to the discription Sirius was hinting at.

" Sorry Evan's, didn't mean to bust your bubble, it's just that, you know how much James obsesses over you, just thought that you'd want to go with him... " Sirius said. James let out another odd noise, and his eyes grew wide. Lily on the other side didn't even bother to acknowlage James.

" Please...the only thing you boys are after is attention and...you know... " She said, looking disgusted. Lupin then pulled out a thickly rolled out piece of parchment.

" Found it! " He said holding out the giant scroll. Lily turned her attention to him and smiled again. Lupin seemed to be the only Muarurder that she got along with at the time.

" Thanks Remus, at least I know that _some_ boys aren't that bad... " She said throwing James a dirty look. Lupin looked a little awkward for a moment, then he smiled once and waved at Lily as she turned to leave.

" By Evans! " James shouted as she trudged away, the parchment swinging in here hand. He sighed, looking absolutely pathetic. He collasped onto the ground, putting his face in his hands and letting out a moan.

" Oh come on Prongs...it's not that bad... " Sirius said, for the first time, looking truely understanding, which didn't make much since, considering he was the one who brought up the subject of the ball to Lily anyway.

" Not that bad? Were you in the same conversation as I was? You heard her, she think's I'm a jerk...a selfish, pompus jerk, who uses woman like hankerchiefs! Bloody hell, she thinks I'm like you! " He moaned, sliding over to the tree and banging his head on it's rough surface once. Sirius, apparently chose not to take this as an insult, though it clearly was.

" Well, look on the bright side...at least she doesn't think your like Peter... " Sirius muttered.

Harry was laughing, and he looked over at the other two. Ron was chuckling as well, and Hermione, though she looked as though she was trying hard to fight, let out a quiet laugh. Harry turned back, but to his surprise, there wasn't anything there. Quite suddenly they were floating again, the white mist returning and making it extremely hard to make out Ron and Hermione, who were hopefully floating beside him.

" We must be changing memories! " Hermione's voice carried from somewhere to Harry's right. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach at the thought of what the next memory could be about, he hoped that it would be something at least remotely cheerful, he wanted to learn as much about his parents as possible before a bad memory ruined the feeling of euphoria that had settle around him at the last memory. After a few minutes of floating through the endless mist, they finally landed on solid ground, or rather...solid floor. The mist cleared and Harry found himself surrounded by many nicely dressed teenagers, in a room that looked strangely like the Great Hall did the night of the Yule Ball...


	3. Chapter 3

The Great Hall was decorated in extravagent banners that hang from the sides of the walls, each one branded with one of the Hogwarts houses. The ceiling, which still had slender candles floating huantingly above the windows, was a gorgeous dark blue, the stars were shining effortlessly through the sky, causing a blueish tint to surround the entire hall. It was quite a site, and Harry had to admit that it looked perhalps Ibetter/I than the night of the Yule Ball.

" I guess this is the ball everyone was talking about... " Ron said, once again stating the obvious. His eye's were traveling over the dancing figures. Harry took this time to follow Ron's lead and take a closer look around. Everyone was dressed in dress robes, that looked suprisingly like Ron's old one, which sort of made since, because Mrs. Weasley had told him that they had been his fathers old ones. All the girls were dressed up in longer robes, most of them with flowers on their wrists. There was music playing from the far corner, but Harry couldn't make out the the source of the up beat guitar playing.

He felt a poke on his shoulder and he glanced at Hermione, she was pointing to one of the small circular tables that had replaced the house tables. James was sitting in his dark blue dress robes, on a wooden chair, with his feet propped up on the chair next to him. Sirius was lounging in the seat next to him, with a curly headed blond perched on his knee. The girl was smiling and laughing at something Sirius was saying. At the other end of the table, Lupin was sitting, looking a little nervous. Next to Lupin sat a rather tall girl, with long brunett hair, that nearly touched the polished floor. She was fairly chunky, and Harry suspected that this must have been the INorah Finley/I that Lupin had mentioned in the last memory.

Harry and the other two walked a little closer to the three boys.

"...so then, obviously I couldn't run -it was too late for that- so I shoved the remaining beetle legs into my mouth and stood there with a smile on my face when Professor Edeth walked in! " Sirius was finishing, he was smiling and seemed to be having a good time. The blond burst out laughing and hit him lightly on the chest.

" You Ididn't/I! Oh my goodness, did you get in trouble? " She asked, her eye's showing that she was genuinly interested in whatever it was that he was talking about. He stopped laughing long enough to answer her.

" Well I wouldn't have, if I hadn't spit the bloody things out right at the moment that Professor McGonagall walked in...I think that I may have broken James' record for longest detention served. " Sirius said, looking over at James, who was tapping his foot to the music and looking off into the distance.

" Yeah...right... " James muttered, his voice was airy, and it was quite clear that he wasn't paying a bit of attention. Sirius rolled his eye's and looked back to his date. Harry followed his father's gaze to the opposite side of the Great Hall and noticed almost immediately what he was staring at so advidly. Lily was leaning against the stone wall, talking to a tall, well built guy, who was dressed in particularly fluffy set of dres robes. Lily herself was dressed in a beautiful dark red dress that reached the very tip of her toes, it was made of some sort of silk material, that was refelcting the glow of the candles. She was smiling, and the guy, that Harry suspected was the Dennis Brown that she had been gloating about, was talking, while making drastic hand movements.

James scoffed, and shook his head, attempting to evert his attention, he looked over at Lupin and Norah.

" So Norah...I hear you like our Moony here. " He said, making Lupin's eyes grow wide, as his neck grew pink. Norah smiled, looking rather uncomfortable. She cleared her throat loudly before answering.

" Er...yeah, he's really nice... " She said, steeling a glance at Lupin, then looking back at James. Lupin looked up from the table cloth that he had been glaring at for the last few seconds. He gazed at Norah, then laughed quietly.

" Your really nice too... " He said, his voice came out a little roughly, and it was clear that he didn't talk to girls much. She sighed smiling.

" Well, I think that's wonderful. Just one thing you aught to know about little Remy here... " James started, he leaned across the table and lowered his voice slightly. " He's a Iterribly/I romantic guy...so if your not the kind girl who likes love letters, flowers, and daily compliments...you should probably just cut him off now... " He said, leaning back into his chair and winking at Lupin when Norah looked away from him. Lupin threw James a greatful smile and turned to Norah, he started up another conversation, and Harry watched as James turned his gaze back onto Lily.

" Lupin...a romantic? Interesting... " Hermione muttered, seeming to be amused. Harry had a feeling that the next time they saw Lupin, he would be hearing about that...

" Looks like your dad had it awfully bad for your mum... " Ron said, looking over at Lily and then at James' pethetic looking face.

" Yeah. " Harry replied. There wasn't any questioning it, if Harry hadn't known otherwise, he would have been worried about the odds of Lily and james ever even speaking to eachother, let alone getting married and having a baby.

" I'm I parched/I, I'm going to get a drink...do you want anything? " Sirius' date asked.

" Oh, you don't have to do that, I'll get 'em. James...you want anything? " Sirius said easing his date off of his lap and waiting for James' response. Apparently James didn't hear him, because he was still staring into space, in Lily's general direction. Sirius sighed, and grabbed James' collar annoyingly.

" Come get the drinks with me James...be right back Mary... " He said, looking at Mary and smiling slightly. Mary returned the smile and gave a slight wave. Harry followed the two boy's, with Hermione and Ron behind him. Sirius let go of James' collar and looked over at him, as they made their way over to the punch bowl.

" You alright Prongs? Your looking sort of...out of it. " He asked, manuvering his way over to the rows of goblets that were sitting on a long slim table, that was draped in a golden cloth. He grabbed three tall goblets and handed one to James, who took it.

" Nothing, I mean...nothing too serious...I can handle it... " James said, filling his goblet with a red, slushy looking liquid. Sirius looked at him , and Harry could tell that he didn't believe a word that he was saying, neither did Harry.

" Your not worried about that git Brown are you? " He asked, filling his own two goblet's with punch.

" No...of course not, don't be thick... " James uttered, he was averting his eyes and drinking heavily from his goblet. Sirius rolled his eyes again and picked up a few pieces of brownie, popping them into his mouth. James was looking slightly uncomfortable, and Harry could tell that he wasn't interested in carrying on this particular conversation.

" So...what about this Mary girl. Weren't you the one that was talking about her...lack of intelegence? " He asked, trying to change the subject. Sirius appeared to be giving up on getting anything else out of James, so he took up the new conversation.

" Yeah well...I was wrong mate, she's amazing...and she really likes me...and I have to say...I'm starting to really like her... " Sirius admitted, he was smiling now, and Harry could tell that he was telling the truth. They began their way back to thier table, with James looking depressed, and Sirius looking undeniably happy. Harry followed them, occasionally looking at Lily out of the corner of his eye. When the two boy's arrived back to the table, Sirius took his seat, with Mary positioning herself back on the tip of his knee. He handed her the goblet of punch, as he drained the last bit of his own.

James was sitting in his same wooden chair, but had made it so that his back was to the scene of Lily flirting with another guy. He was now looking in a completely different direction, over toward the Great Hall's entrance. A smile was slowly creeping to his lips and he prodded Sirius in the shoulder, pointing to the doors. Harry, Ron and Hermione all turned simutaniusly, to the spot that James was pointing to.

A greasy, long black haired boy was trudging his way into the Great Hall. His Midnight blue robes, dragging the ground in a very unattractive fashion, the hims were frayed, and the collar, which had an extremely ugly green orchid attatched to it, was flared up. He looked, for lack of a better word, frighteningly ugly. The nose protruding from behind the terrants of hair, was perhaps the most recognizable feature that the boy wore, although, there was really no question of who this person was in the first place.

" Snape? " Ron whispered, looking on the verge of a heart attack. He gave a few feeble hiccups of laughter, but that diddn't seem to satisfy him. Tears began filling his eye's as he laughed so hard, that there was no sound coming from his mouth. Harry himself, was finding it far to surreal to laugh at all, and Hermione by the looks of it, found it if possible, more amusing than Ron, for she was having to brace herself againt Harry's shoulder, so she would fall down from her laughter.

" Do my eyes deceive me James? Or did he actually bother to show his face at the ball? " Sirius said, at first he had merely turned his head, but once he noticed who it was, he had turned the whole chair, Marry included, so that he was facing Snape.

" Your seeing correctly...the only question is, what is he wearing? " James asked, making it a point of raising his voice. Harry watched, and in about three seconds Snape seemed to realize a few things, that the two boys had spotted him and that they were not going to leave him alone. Snape walked further into the Great Hall, and pretended not to hear James and Sirius. He was heading straight for the punch bowl, with his head held high, with his crooked nose sticking out, and his pale skin glowing eerily inthe candle light.

Sirius let out a shrill cat call, and James, along with about half the Great Hall, laughed, including Harry and the other two. Snapes eyes averted only for a second, then they focused back on something ahead of him. James was still trying to catch his breath, but apparently couldn't leave the poor sap alone.

" Men, hold tight to your ladies! That handsome bugger is single! " He said, pointing his finger in Snapes direction. He was now laughing again, having to practically hold his glasses onto his face. Lupin was sitting at the corner of the table, not seeming to notice anything that was going on, he and Norah seemed to be in thier own little world.

" Mary, I'll completely understand if you want to leave me for Snivellus, it will crush me, but I wont blam you...he's a Igod/I... " Sirius said, leaning his head near Mary's. This sent her into another fit of laughter.

" I'll try to resist Sirius...but I'm not so sure I can! " She said, playing along with the serade. Snape had abandoned his attempts to ignore the snickers and jeers that were now slowly spreading through the crowd of students, who were still dancing, but found it easey to dance and laugh at the same time. He was now walking, rather briskly to the corner of the room, where he proceeded to sit at a vacant table, sipping out of his goblet.

" Poor Snivellus, he looks so lonely...maybe his boyfriend dumped him? " Sirius muttered, he was playing with a but of mary's hair as he stared at Snape's slumped figure across the room. James smirked.

" Yeah, well he was probably just intimidated by Snape's...strong...features... " He said, smiling openly.

" That, or one of his Istrong features/I poked his eye out... " Sirius suggested, glancing away from Snape and giving his attention back to his date. James chuckled and then became rather awkward looking, given the fact that he was the only one at the table without a date, which probably was a rare incident.

There was a few minutes that went by where nothing happened, besides the changing of the songs, and the random shouts from the groups of friends that were scattered around the room. Harry was beginning to feel sorry for his father, and Ron's laughter was finally starting to die down. Hermione on the other hand, was staring at Harry father as well, she seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he was...if James and Lily ended up married, then why did it seem that they didn't spend any time at all together? In fact, Lily was even with another boy!

Harry had been zoning out momentarily, and hadn't noticed that something had been going on. He focused back on his father's table. It was the yelling, actually that had brought him out of his thoughts, James was shouting harshly at the boy that Lily had been talking with. Harry turned to Hermione.

" What happened? " He asked. Ron was quicker to answer.

" That bloke Dennis -the one your mum was with- came over, and I guess he must of tripped or something, anyway, he dumped his punch all over your dad's robes... " He started, looking rather excited. Harry turned back to the scene that was unfolding in front of them.

" Watch where your going! " James was yelling, making it quite clear that he wasn't going to let tthis possible accident go. Dennis was standing there looking stunned, but then...it could of been a fake look of surprise. Sirius had looked away from his date and was know looking worried.

" Oh, I'm sorry...that was an accident, you might want to wipe that off though...before it stains... " Dennis said sarcastically, it was now fairly clear that the accident hadn't really been an accident at all.Ron scoffed from beside Harry, who was trying to decide whether to laugh at the Brown's comment, or to be angry at the boy who was dancing with his mother...he chose the second option.

James stood up quickly, ready to fight. Harry saw the pent up anger that James had been holding in, along with a giant wad of jealousy and it was about ready to burst out of him. Dennis made a huge mistake and let out a bark of luaghter.

" What are you going to do Potter? Hit me? Please... " He said, turning around and beginning to walk back to where a very startled Lily stood, looking at James apprehensively. Harry couldn't blame her, the way his father was staring at the back of Dennis' head...made it perfectly clear what James was prepared to do. At this point Sirius was standing up as well, and Lupin had looked away from Norah.

" James... " Sirius warned, trying to make a grab for James' sleeve, but his friend pulled his arm out of reach.

" Why are you walking away then? If you think that me hitting you would be such a joke...then why walk away? Why not try and prove it? " James prodded, he was looking way to agressive for his own good, and Harry was worried that his father might have been taking this a little to far.

" Come on Prongs, sit down... " Lupin called from his seat. James shook his head slowly.

" No, if Big Shot here wants to start something, the least I could do is finish it. " He was now advancing on Dennis slightly, Dennis turned around and gave him a look of disbelief. Lily still hadn't bothered to move forward, or pull Dennis away, and Harry was waiting eagerly for her to make a move.

" Are you serious? " Dennis asked, looking highly amused, he smiled and handed his empty goblet to a boy that just happened to be standing beside him. His hand reached gradually for his pocket, and when he started to retract it, the end of a slender dark wooden wand was revealed. At that instant, two things happened: Lily gave a shout from where she was standing, and James, along with Sirius, and Lupin withdrew his own wand.

" Oh no... " Hermione muttered, sounding worried. Harry on the other hand, wasn't worried at all. Something in him stirred when he wittnessed Lupin and Sirius both draw their wands, and stand up behind James, even for something as little as this. He was glad that he had the same kind of friends for himself, although...he'd probably never start something like that...

" I want nothing more than to curse you into oblivion... " James muttered, looking dead serious. Dennis still wore a smile, he still didn't see James as a threat, which seemed to be not such a wise decision at this point.

" Then do it...what are you waiting for? " He asked, holding his free hand up in the air leaving his chest open, and giving James a look of sarcasm. James seemed to think that he had waited long enough and he raised his wand, aiming it.

" James don't! " Lily's voice carried through the music, that ubelievable was still playing, which was probably why there weren't any Professor's intervening. Most of the croud had stopped listening to the conversation and had slowly started drifteing back onto the dance floor, it seemed that James was always pulling his wand on someone, usually as a joke, or a harmless jinx, and everyone was sort of shrugging the incident off. Of course they didn't know the jealousy behind this little stunt, and that James could quite possibly seriously injure this boy.

At Lily's plea, James shifted his gaze, only slightly, toward her, still keeping his wand raised and pointed directly at Dennis.

" What's wrong with you? Put your wand down! " She said, walking closer to the two of them. James turned his head, so that he was now fully facing her. At this Sirius and Lupin raised their wands, maing sure that dennis wouldn't try anything.

" Me? Your boyfriend's the one that started this, talk to him! " His voice sounded strained, as if he were trying to decide whether or not to soften his angry voice when talking to her.

" He's not my...that's not the point. Put your wands away! All of you! " She added, shooting Sirius and Lupin stern looks. The two boys sighed and cautiosly stowed their wands into their breast pockets. James and Dennis hadn't budged, making Lily huff in annoyance.

" Oh honestly! It was just some punch! Is it really worth getting detention over? " She questioned, staring at both of them. Her face was flushed with disapointment, and she didn't look very forgiving. James looked torn between wanted to tear Dennis to pieces, and wanting to obey Lily's wishes. He stared at Dennis threateningly, then unbelievably, the two of them started lowering thier wands. Not taking his eye's off of Dennis, James slowly tucked his wand into his pocket, as Dennis followed suit, looking at James smuggly.

" I knew you wouldn't do anythng... " He stated moving toward Lily and attempting to put an arm around her, she batted him away, looking disgusted. James shook his head and turned around, heading back to his seat.

" Stupefy! " Dennis shouted. Harry watched as James' body went limp and fell to the stone floor, his head slamming the edge of the table, causing a crack to ring through the room, lost in the music that was still playing.

" That dirty, rotten...his back was turned! " Hermione shouted as if she were actually there. Ron gave an angry shout and Harry sighed, he had knew something like this would happen, his father seemed to have the same luck that Harry did.

" Dennis! Oh my... " Lily breathed running over to James. Sirius and Lupin were huddled over him, slapping his face, trying to get him to wake up. Lily had pulled her wand out, and was pointing it carefully over James.

" Ennervate... " She muttered, as a golden glow erupted from her wand, and James' body relaxed slightly. He was still unconcious on the floor.

" What's wrong? Why's he still laying there? " Sirius asked, he seemed to be panicking slightly.

" He's knocked out...his head hit the table. " She said, getting up from the floor. Sirius looked over to Lupin.

" We should take him to the hospital wing... " He said, wrapping his arms under Jame's shoulder blades. Lupin nodded and moved over to James' legs and grabbing them. They hoisted him up, and Harry watched as they struggled their way out of the Great Hall.

The last thing that Harry remembered seeing as the walls of the Great Hall started fading and the music that had been blaring, began to grow silent, was his mother, tucking her dark red hair behind her ear, pull back her arm, and smack Dennis right across his smug face.


End file.
